Before Rome Falls
by The Flashpoint Hero
Summary: When Irene, a Wild Western sharpshooter who is famous for never missing a target, finds herself stuck in corrupt Rome after a chain of events, she inadvertently triggers a civil war and puts the lives of the uncorrupted general and his inner circle at risk. Unable to go back to the West, Irene must fix all her mistakes before Rome falls.
1. Chapter 1

BANG! BANG! BANG!

I retracted my gun and lazily blew the smoke away from the barrel. I didn't know why I bothered to practise shooting; my aim was literally perfect. _But I guess I don't want my skills to get rusty,_ I supposed.

I glanced back towards town. I was on a piece of land a metre or so away from town. But since I was a miniature exhibit at a museum, it seemed more like a few hundred metres.

I sat down on a rock and sighed at the three tin cans that I had just shot over.

My life was missing something.

Adventure? It could be; ever since we woke up here in this museum for the first time, there hasn't been anywhere near as much adventure and action as there used to be.

Love? Less likely. After all, I HAD love. Well, it wasn't quite LOVE. More like flirtation. With the town doctor. Who was married to his work. And got flustered every single time I even winked at him. There was also that sheriff, but he was also married to his work. But he did respond better to my flirtation. Love was confusing.

What else could have been missing from my life? Well, I knew there had to be _something_. I felt empty inside, as if I were a glass that was nearly full but noticeably not.

Maybe my life lacked meaning.

BANG!

My head sharply turned in the direction of the shot, and I saw a group of men, perhaps six of them, probably bandits, surrounding a figure on the ground.

There we go. Meaning.

I made sure that my gun was loaded, before I started running towards them. I waited until I was close enough for them to spot me, then I shot all six of the men's guns out of their hands. They came rushing towards me, but I kicked two out of the way and slammed another two's heads together. As the fifth man and I began grappling, I spotted the sixth man recovering his gun. I didn't think much of it, until I saw the huddled man on the ground, just waiting to be shot. I threw the fifth man to the ground and raced towards the last man, but it was too late. He had already sent a bullet straight into the beaten man's back.

I scooped up my own pistol and shot the man clean through the chest, killing him instantly. I only ever killed people if they did something bad first. I would not shoot a bad guy unless I witnessed him killing or hurting someone. That was why I had just killed him.

I bent down beside the injured man, who was lying flat on his stomach. I didn't know much about first aid, but I knew that the stomach was the best place for him to be right now; the bullet was still in the wound, and if he was on his back, he'd bleed to death.

Thinking as fast as I could, I grabbed one of the men's discarded guns and fired it into the air as many times as there were bullets in there.

As I waited for help, I gently turned the man's face towards me to see if I could recognise him. My heart suddenly stood still. It was Benji, the town's deputy. What was he doing all the way out here?! How did he get mixed up with those bandits?!

My pulse quickened, but I forced myself to stay calm. That was how I managed to operate so well; I kept myself apart from my feelings.

Glancing up, I spotted a small group of people coming towards us.

For goodness sake! Could they GO any slower?! I cupped my hands round my mouth and yelled, "HURRY THE HELL UP!"

Luckily, one of them sped up, and I could tell that that one person was Chase. My heart leapt at the sight of him, though I didn't understand why. If I was leaning towards either of my potential suitors, I'd be leaning towards Jed. Wouldn't I? He was the sheriff, AND he actually gave me indications that he liked me back, instead of getting all embarrassed, like Chase did.

When Chase arrived, he hurriedly began checking Benji's pulse and wound. "What happened?!" he demanded.

"Bandits," I replied disgustedly, kicking one of the unconscious men with my boot. "Is Jed coming? He needs to arrest them." I glanced at the one I had shot. "Five of the six, anyway."

"No good," muttered Chase, still examining Benji. "I need to get him to the infirmary."

Jed and three other men arrived at that point. Chase directed the three men to pick Benji up and carry him towards town, with the doctor following them anxiously.

"Bandits," Jed spat disgustedly, in much the same way I had. "Why those idiot exhibit-makers decided to make bandits, I have no idea." He exhaled deeply. "Poor Benji. He didn't deserve this."

"At least if he dies, we'll know he died while doing the job he loved," I offered.

Jed scowled at me. "He was ambushed by bandits."

I blinked innocently and shrugged. "Your point is…?"

Jed rolled his eyes. "Nevermind. I don't care."

"Aww, but you care about me, don't you?" I batted my eyelids at him. "Don't you?"

"Sure," Jed said, but his scowl melted into a smirk. "I care about you as my best sharpshooter."

"Nothing more?" I asked innocently.

Jed's smirk widened. "Do you want there to be something more?"

I paused. Jed had never asked me that before. I didn't know how to answer.

Jed sighed, a resigned look on his face. "Irene, I mean it: you're our best sharpshooter. In several years, I don't think you've missed a single target."

"I've missed one," I corrected him. "But that was because I had a concussion."

"But we can't afford to fraternise," Jed continued, as if I hadn't spoken. "If more o' these bandits arrive, I can't have anyone tied to me. I'm already pushing it by being such close friends with Chase and Annie."

I automatically scowled at the mention of my younger sister. Annie was the owner of the local saloon, and while I was proud of her for that, she was a sort of "romantic rival" for me. She had strong feelings for Jed, though I didn't think that Jed either knew about or returned those feelings. It made me feel jealous, despite the fact that I didn't even know if I felt that way about Jed. Our older brother always told us to not think about men and to just focus on our lives, but I personally couldn't just forget about Jed and Chase. Apart from my siblings, they were the closest friends I had.

"I'm gonna head back to town," Jed said, pulling me out of my thoughts. "Coming?"

I hesitated. "Yeah, I'm coming. You start, I'll catch up."

Jed shrugged and started making his way back to town.

I stooped down and gathered up the men's guns. I took the bullets from every single one of them, and put the bullets in my pockets. After doing that, I snapped the barrels of the guns so that they couldn't be used.

Finally, I followed Jed back to town.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: the Kirk in this chapter is not the same as Kirk Kennedy, the PnF character. This is a different Kirk. This A/N is mostly directed at one person; you know who you are XD**

 **…**

When I got back to town, I decided to head straight to the infirmary to check how Chase was doing with Benji. As I entered the building, I spotted Jed across town. He was having a heated exchange with Kirk, another sharpshooter. Nowhere near as good as me, of course, but he was still pretty good. I wondered why they were arguing.

But as I squinted at them, I realised that only one of them was angry, and that was Jed. Kirk was…CRYING?!

I had to look again to make sure I wasn't seeing things. Kirk, a grown man, was actually crying!

I quickly hurried closer. As I got nearer, Jed raised his fist and punched Kirk right in the gut, causing the poor man to fall to his knees, winded. "Hey!" I yelled, drawing my pistol.

Jed turned and glared at me. "Are you here to rebel against me too?!" he shouted at me.

"If you continue hitting Kirk, then yeah!" I snapped, holding my gun in such a way that it wasn't quite aiming at Jed, but it was ready to shoot if need be.

"You'd really shoot me?" Jed said incredulously. "Just like that?"

"You just hit Kirk for no reason!"

"He questioned my authority!"

I exhaled sympathetically. "Jed, I know you're under a lot of pressure right now. Finding the bandits' hideout won't be an easy task. But you can't just take it out on us!"

"Don't tell me what I can and can't do!" growled Jed, clenching his fists, his whole body tight and tense as if he was preparing himself to punch again. "I ain't afraid to hit a woman, you know!"

"Don't you dare threaten me," I hissed.

"Stop!" snapped Kirk's wheezing voice. "Both of you!"

I turned to look at Kirk's tear-stained face. "Exactly what did you say to make him cry?" I snapped; though I was looking at Kirk, my words were for Jed.

"None o' your business," snapped Jed.

I bent down next to Kirk and began rubbing his shoulder. "What did he say?" I asked gently.

Kirk shook his head slowly. "It doesn't matter." He wiped his eyes.

"It does to me," I argued. "He made you CRY, Kirk!"

"It's fine." Kirk gently pushed me away. "I'm fine."

I was doubtful, but I stood up and nodded. "Alright, but if you need to talk, I'm here, okay?"

Kirk nodded and put on a brave smile. "Thanks, Irene."

I turned to chew Jed out some more, but I found that he wasn't there. Instead, he was just disappearing into the infirmary. Narrowing my eyes, I followed him.

Great. What damage could Jed POSSIBLY do in there?

Peering inside, I spotted Chase running about the room, clearly performing surgery on poor Benji, who was unconscious on a bed. As I entered, I saw Jed striding towards Chase.

Uh oh. This won't be good…

I hurried up to them.

"Chase, I need you to listen to my plan to take the bandit hideout," Jed was saying.

"Jed, I'd really love to, but I'm in the middle of an operation," Chase said desperately, administering some kind of injection to Benji, whose body suddenly spasmed on the bed.

"Is he okay?!" I gasped, moving to a good distance away, where I could still observe, but I wasn't in the way of the operation.

Unfortunately, Jed didn't get that memo. He got right up in Chase's face and snapped, "That was an order, Chase."

"I don't care," Chase snapped back. "I'm operating."

"Chase, if you don't-," began Jed, striding even closer, but he was cut off by Chase firmly pushing him aside.

"Jed, really, just leave! I'm in the middle of an important-!"

Jed suddenly grabbed Chase by the lapels and lifted him off the ground. "You're also rebelling against me, aren't you?" he growled.

"HEY!" I yelled, charging forwards. "What the hell is wrong with you?!"

Jed threw Chase to the ground. The doctor tried to get up, but Jed kicked him in the shoulder, sending him rolling into the wall. "M-my patient," croaked Chase, trying again to get to his feet. "Benji…I have to help him…"

"Maybe next time you should obey my order straight away!" Jed yelled, kicking Chase in the face.

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" I screamed, shoving Jed towards the door. He tripped over backwards and landed on his back. "GET OUT!"

"Don't tell me-!" he began furiously.

"I SAID GET OUT!" I bellowed again, so loudly that I was sure even the Mayans heard me across the room. "NOW!"

Jed scrambled backwards and, struggling to his feet, ran out the room.

A distressed cry of, "no, no, no!" brought my attention round to Chase, who was bent over by Benji's bedside, despite his bleeding nose and his bruised shoulder. "No, no, NO!"

I wanted desperately to ask what was wrong, but I decided to stay out of it for now. I stepped back, biting my lip anxiously.

I watched as Chase did several things to Benji, from injecting him with stuff to working on the wound.

Eventually, Chase stepped back, his eyes filling with tears, as he wiped his forehead with the back of his wrist. I nervously approached him and put my hand on his shoulder. "Chase?"

"B-B-Benji," Chase stammered, clearly a few seconds away from losing it completely. "He-he's…he can't…he'll never be able to…"

"Chase, breathe," I urged. "What's wrong?"

"Jed distracted me." Chase closed his eyes, tears beginning to run down his cheeks. "Th-the operation failed."

"Wh-what?!"

"B-Benji…he survived, but…" Chase hesitated, clearly struggling with the words. "He-he'll never walk again," he finished in an agonised whisper. "He's going to be paralysed for the rest of his life."

My eyes widened. "I-if Jed hadn't distracted you…?"

"Benji would most likely have made a full recovery," Chase said quietly, meeting my eyes for a brief second, before he broke down in my arms, shaking and crying.

"It's okay," I whispered, lying through my teeth. "It'll be okay, I promise."

Jed needed to pay for what he did. Chase was going to blame himself for not being able to save Benji's ability to walk, when it wasn't his fault at all. It was Jed's. It was all Jed's. If he hadn't needlessly attacked Chase in the middle of the operation, Benji would still be completely abled. I knew what I was going to do: I was going to find Jed and make him answer for what he did.

But first, I decided to stay with Chase.

He needed me.


	3. Chapter 3

Eventually, I left Chase in the infirmary to deal with Benji, after the former had calmed down a bit.

I needed to find Jed. I hadn't seen him since the incident, and I had to admit that I was worried. I shouldn't have been, especially after what had happened, but I couldn't help it. The outburst was just so uncharacteristic for him.

But despite my worry for Jed, I felt even more anger towards him. He had caused so much hurt in just five minutes; emotional pain for Chase, and physical pain for both Benji AND Chase.

And he had to answer for that.

I headed straight for the sheriff's office. Sure enough, Jed was in there, pacing the length of the room and looking out the window.

I stopped the entrance and planted my feet firmly apart, folding my arms. "What the hell was all that about?" I demanded. "Why did you verbally attack Kirk and actually attack Chase?"

"None of your business," snarled Jed.

I had had enough. I strode forwards and grabbed Jed's lapels and lifted him off the ground, just as Jed had done to Chase. "No, it IS my business!" I yelled in his face, an angry snarl on my face. "You made Kirk cry for no reason and hit him in the stomach! Then you distracted Chase from a major operation and effectively ruined Benji's life! He's going to be paralysed for the rest of his life! Do you know what paralysed means?! It means he's never going to walk again! And it's all your fault! And not only that, but you also physically assaulted Chase, one of your best friends, and now he's beating himself up because he thinks that Benji's paralysis is his fault, when in reality, IT'S YOURS!"

My anger dying down, I dropped Jed on the ground. Breathing heavily, I fully expected Jed to spring up and either hit me or yell at me or both. Instead, I heard muffled sobbing, and when I looked down, I saw that Jed's shoulders were hunched, and his face was buried in his hands, and his shoulders were shaking as he sobbed.

Feeling a slight pang of sympathy, I crouched down next to him. "Jed?"

"How could I have been so stupid?" Jed sobbed. "I've lost the respect of my men…all because of a moment of anger."

I felt my heart ache with pity, but I forced myself to maintain my anger. I couldn't afford to let myself forgive him that readily. "It was a bit more than just a moment!" I snapped. "More like several minutes!"

Jed flinched, and I felt really mean at that. But I didn't let up on him. "You could have killed Chase. You could have seriously damaged Kirk's emotional state. You could have let Benji die!"

Jed blanched. "I…I didn't mean to…"

"JED!" came a screamed voice from outside.

I spun round and came face to face with Annie, my younger sister. She froze when she saw me, her blonde curls bobbing in place. "I-Irene…"

"What is it?" I demanded. "What are you screaming about?"

Annie just pointed with a shaking hand towards the roof of the saloon. I followed her finger, and my heart froze like water in winter.

On the roof of the saloon was Kirk standing on the very edge, poised as if about to jump. The smaller figure of Chase was standing a metre or so behind him, trying to coax him down.

"Oh my god!" I shrieked, rushing towards the saloon with my eyes fixed on the two figures on the roof. "KIRK!"

Kirk's head jerked towards me, and his eyes locked on me. He reached out towards me with one hand. "Irene…" I heard him call softly.

"Please come down!" I called back desperately. "Safely, not the quick way!"

Kirk bit his lip. As I watched, I saw Chase calling things to him. I couldn't hear exactly what the doctor was saying, but it seemed to be working; Kirk was slowly stepping away from the ledge. I felt a new surge of respect towards Chase as I saw him take Kirk's hand and lead him away from the edge of the building.

Annie and I both breathed out audibly in relief as we watched Chase help Kirk down from the roof.

I closed my eyes and turned away, puffing my cheeks out in relief. That was way too close. We almost lost Kirk today.

I turned towards Jed, who was observing with horror from the doorway of his office. "See what you did?" I asked bitterly. "See what your words and actions nearly drove Kirk to?"

Jed's mouth was opening and closing but no sound was coming out.

This made me relax a bit. I walked towards Jed and put my hands on his shoulders. "How about you talk to someone, Jed?" I said gently. "Someone who can help. Give advice. Give comfort. Make sure that this kind of rage episode doesn't happen again."

Jed nodded slowly. "Yeah, that's the best idea. And I know the best person, too. Excuse me." He strode back into his office.

Both curious and suspicious, I dismissed Annie and waited for Jed a few metres away from the office, hidden from sight. When I saw him emerge, I followed him discreetly all the way to the tunnel between the Wild West diorama and the Rome diorama. Peering down the tunnel, I watched as Jed met someone halfway in. Using the shadows, I snuck closer to see and hear more.

Wait. Was that who I thought it was?

My nose wrinkled in disgust. It was. It was General Octavius of Rome. Jed's new best friend.

I hiss under my breath and back myself back up the tunnel. "So…the "best person" is a Roman bighead, is it, Jed?" I muttered bitterly, narrowing my eyes. "You should be focusing on your own people, Jed! Not the Romans who would stab you in the back if it meant getting a bit of glory! The best person to comfort you and offer you advice is pompous, too-good Roman scum?!"

And here I was thinking I actually meant something to Jed.


	4. Chapter 4

I don't even remember how I got back to town, but I somehow did. I didn't even realise I had wandered back to town until I accidentally bumped into Chase, who was standing outside the infirmary. "Irene?" He frowned. "Are you okay? You look dazed."

I sighed. I wanted to tell Chase what I had seen, to unload some of my irritation on him, but frankly, it was Jed's business, and I shouldn't have even followed him in the first place. "I'm just not sure whether to be annoyed at Jed or worried about him."

Chase sighed. "Maddeningly, I'm in the exact same position. I want to be really mad at Jed for what he did to Kirk and Benji, but…" He growled. "I can't be. Not as mad as I want to be, at least."

I bit the inside of my lip. "How's Benji?"

"Still hasn't woken up," Chase said, exhaling through his words. "I'm out here because…well, I have to plan what I'm going to tell him."

"And what ARE you going to tell him?" I asked sympathetically.

"I have no idea," Chase sighed. "How am I supposed to tell him that he'll never walk again?"

I grimaced. "Do you want me to help?"

Chase sighed again. "I could do with some emotional support, if that's okay."

"Of course, yes." I hesitated. "Do you want me to get Ash?"

"Um…" Chase also hesitated. "She's good at this kind of thing… So yes, please."

A small smile appeared on my face. Ash was my best friend since we were kids. She was an archaeologist, and an amazing one at that. I used to accompany her on her digs, acting as her hired muscle, as it were, except I wasn't "hired"; I liked protecting her. Especially since we used to go to some pretty dangerous areas, which meant I got to use my skills a lot.

"I'll be back in a sec," I said, turning and rushing off.

I knew where Ash would be: she'd either be in the room she rented for free or she'd be in the infirmary. She had a crush on Chase. Which was cute, but…I didn't know if _I_ had a crush on Chase too. But it didn't matter for now; now I just needed to find my best friend.

I peeked into the infirmary first, but she wasn't in there. So I went to the saloon, rather regretfully.

"Well, if it isn't Irene," my big sister said, smirking, as she leant provocatively against the doorway of the saloon. "What can I do for you?"

"Stop acting like I'm one of your clients," I said disgustedly. "Or worse; one of your customers. I just need to know if Ash is in her room."

"She went out about half an hour ago," Annie replied casually. "Said something about a new discovery."

"Did she say where?"

"She said something vague that I can't really remember."

I rolled my eyes. "Of course she did. Do you have any idea where she is?"

"No."

I rolled my eyes again and turned away. "Great. Thanks. Don't think I'm coming to your establishment ever again."

"I'll try not to lose sleep over it."

"Why do you have to be such an asshole?" I snapped. "I get that you're trying to be strong and independent and flirty, but it doesn't mean you have to be such an asshole to your only sister."

"Well-."

All of a sudden, Annie jerked forward and glared behind her. From the way the man in the doorway was standing, I presumed that he had just slapped her butt.

"Hey, sexy." He grinned revoltingly at her, clearly drunk. "Come back inside and have some fun."

He made a movement as if he was about slap her butt again, but before he could even blink, Annie whipped out a gun and, without hesitating, shot him…

…in the nuts.

He screamed in pain, clutching his crotch, and collapsed sideways.

"Oh, relax." Annie holstered her gun. "My boyfriend's a doctor; I know how to shoot someone in the nuts without killing them."

I almost spoke up against Chase being Annie's boyfriend, but I decided to shut my mouth. Besides, seeing this creep getting what he deserved was good enough to make me forget anything I was about to say. I smirked down at the guy, and then I turned my smirk to a second drunkard, who was standing a metre or so behind the first guy. His eyes had widened, and his thighs were bent slightly. He was clearly thinking about how painful that experience must be.

"So melodramatic," sighed Annie, placing her hands on her hips.

"How about I shoot YOU in the breast, then?" I muttered. "See how melodramatic YOU are?"

"What was that?" Annie asked pointedly, turning to look at me.

I repeated what I had just said, word-for-word. "I'm not scared of you," I snapped. "Even though I think what you just did was awesome, I'm disgusted by you and your behaviour."

Annie just raised an eyebrow. "Leave, then."

"I intend to."

I turned on my heel and stormed away. Despite the fact that I admired Annie for having the courage to deal with drunk creeps the way she did, I hated how she put herself in the firing line by dressing and acting how she did. She was acting like one of the prostitutes she employed at her saloon, something I knew she thought I didn't know about. But I did, and it upset me that these women felt the need to dress provocatively and sell their bodies to drunk men for a night.

Just as I was thinking about that, I felt myself bump into someone. Without realising it, I had managed to walk all the way back to the ridge where the bandits had cornered Benji this morning. "Oh, I'm sorry. I wasn't looking where I was-."

"Irene!" trilled a familiar voice.

I blinked as I felt my best friend hug me tightly. "Ash…?"

Ash immediately leapt back, looking nervous. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-."

I interrupted her by hugging her back, just as tightly. "It's great to see you, Ash."

As we pulled back, I saw that Ash was beaming. "It's great to see you too, Irene! It's been a while."

"Ash, I'm sorry to be rude, but I need your help. Did you hear what happened to Benji?"

Ash's face fell and she nodded sadly. "Yeah. It's really terrible."

"Well…Chase needs to break the news to him that he's permanently paralysed, but he needs moral support, and he asked for you."

Ash's beam returned, though her cheeks were tinged red. "He…He did?"

I nodded, though that was ever-so-slightly a lie. "Will you help?"

Ash nodded. "Of course, yes."

"Great. Then let's go."


End file.
